"Chasing the thin blue line" is a comment oft used in the marathon runner's vocabulory.

The blue line, originally green, is used to measure the actual distance of the marathon event and as a guide for the runners.

Do you and your business have a "blue line"?

What guides your business direction on a day by day, week by week, month by month basis toward the future you wish to achieve?

I was at a recent workshop and asked the following question ...

Do you have 1 or 2 key indicators that you monitor on a regular basis so you know you are on track?

Just one solitory person said yes.

Have a key performance indicator to track

Knowing something that simple is exactly the same as following the blue line.

An example of this could be if you are in the restaurant/cafe trade you record and monitor the numbers of bums on seats per day or the average sale value.

Something like this is simple to measure and simple to put into a graph.

When you have an end point to aim for (like completing the marathon) and you set up a plan to get there (as marathon runners have both a training and race plan) you then have your blue line.

As a marathon runner doesn't exactly try and take each stride on the blue line so in your business you don't need to exactly follow your plan to the letter. But all the time you have the indicator giving you feedback as you proceed toward your goal.

Action:

• Have a plan to guide your business over the next 12 months
• Work out what your key business indicator is that will provide you with feed back
• Monitor that key indicator on a regular basis
• Adjust your plans to meet changed circumstances to keep moving along your "blue line"